Summer
Snippets: Putting the Presence into
Practice
The old saying, “You can’t give what you don’t have” applies equally as well with
things in the realm of the spirit, the important intangibles like love,
affection, faithfulness, and presence. And when you do have them and are able
to give them, what a difference they make in our lives!
I have been
talking in this weekly column about contemplative prayer or sitting-in-silence
and experiencing God’s presence. A way to do this is to sit in a
straight-backed chair with feet on the floor and simply breathe in and out
slowly at your own pace. Once you have quieted yourself having breathed in and
out five or six times, read a short passage from scripture two times slowly,
letting the words sink in. After the second time, take a phrase of 3 or 4 words
that shimmer for you, words that stand out as having some special meaning at
this moment. Synchronize the 3-4 words to your breathing in and out. When you
no longer need the words or awareness of the breathing, simply place yourself
in God’s arms and relax. Rest there relishing and savoring the presence. Whenever
you are distracted or begin thinking, return to the words in sync with the
breathing. The goal is to remain simply aware and delighting in God’s presence.
In this state there are no prayer requests, no listening to God’s response. It
is pure and simply the state of being before the Beloved. It’s like resting in
the eyes and the smile of someone you love dearly and knowing they love you.
Remain in that presence for five or ten minutes. You’ll find the time flies by.
When you come
out of the presence and back into the present, it is important to ask two
questions: What was the experience like and how can what I experienced make a
different with a particular person or situation I shall encounter today? This minute
or two of reflection is very important, because now it’s fine to think and
deliberate. As you look back on the experience of presence you may say, “It was a profound peacefulness I felt” or
“My phrase was I will love you always” or
“I felt like Jesus was drawing me to
himself and holding me close.” Everyone’s experience will be different and
unique. But only half the job has been accomplished. The second question is how
can my experience make a difference for someone I will encounter today or
regarding a situation in which I will find myself. So the profound peacefulness
I felt I might share with someone who is a bit upset or rattled by something in
their life that happened. My phrase from Jesus, “I will love you always” may
have humbled me a bit and now I’m willing to forgive someone who’s wronged me
and has never even apologized. I will have the grace to do that to the degree
the words of Jesus touched me in the depth of my soul. Or finally, my feeling
of being drawn to Jesus and being held close will give me a clear and powerful
ability to do that for someone I will be meeting today with whom I may find
that difficult to do.
We know all too
well from the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop before Peter, James
and John that their seeing him in glory was not just for themselves. It was to
bond them to him and to strengthen them in their love and service to others.
That is why Jesus ignored Peter’s blustery statement about building three tents
one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. He wanted the wonderful moment
of presence to the Lord in glory to continue. Jesus on the other hand said the
presence was to strengthen them and they must come down off the mountaintop and
get back among the people changed by what they’d seen and prepared to be
different with others because of it.
The same is true
of our presence to God in contemplation. What happened and how will it make a
difference are key points of reflection. What I find helpful is to jot both
statements down in a small spiral bound; they’re easy to write in. Don’t spend
lots of time on this, rather write one sentence describing the experience and a
second stating how it will be used in a concrete situation. My guess is that as
you collect these statements over the course of a month and read them over
after a while, you’ll begin to see how contemplative presence is making a
difference in your life. It will clearly be a case of prayer with muscle,
prayer that is transforming and transforming not only you but others in your
life.
Fondly,
Father Nicholas
P.S. To get past copies of weekly Summer Snippets
or Sunday homilies simply type “FaceBook Father Nicholas Amato” to get to
FaceBook or Blogspot. There are posted both the weekly Summer Snippet and the
homily I’ll be delivering that coming Sunday.
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